Operating mechanism for drain-plugs.



l c. B. POSTER. OPERATING MBGHANISM POR DRAIN PLUGS. APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 30, 1907. RENEWBD DEO. 19I 1911.

1,071,515. Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

wn ess es;

coLunmxA PLANOGRAPH 'co..wAsHlN010N. D. c.

CHARLES B. FOSTER, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR DRAIN-PLUGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26,1913.

Application filed March 30, 1907, Serial No. 365,562. Renewed December 19, 1911. Serial No. 666,841.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. Fos'rnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buifalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new an'd useful Improvements in Operating Mechanism for Drain-Plugs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for opening and closing the drain plug of a wash bowl or similar structure, and has for its object to enable the user, by manipulating a handle, to open or close the drain plug without the necessity for immersing the hand in the water and without the use of chains or similar att-aching means which tend to obstruct the wash bowl and interfere with the washing operation.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the apparatus that the plug-operating devices serve to 'hold or lock the plug in its raised position, preventing accidental dropping or lowering of the same under pressure.

The invention consists vin the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through a wash bowl, showing, in elevation, the operating mechanism of the present invention; Fig. 2 a longitudinal sectional view showing 'the plug lowered; Fig. 3 a similar view showing -the plug raised; Fig. 4c a view taken on line `1i-lA of Fig. 2.

The mechanism is applied to a wash bowl 5 of any suitable style or shape, in the bottom of which is located a bushing 6 which serves as a drain hole. The mouth 7 of the drain opening is beveled or flared and serves as a seat for a plug 8 which is beveled around its periphery to'conform to the ilaring of the mouth of the bushing. The bushing, around its mouth, is provided with ay flange 9 which is entered'into a'recess 10, in the bottom of the bowl, to afford a water tight joint, and the `bushing has screwed onto its projected lower end a casing 11 which comprises a neck 12 screw threaded to receive the end of the bushing, which neck is provided at its upper end with a flange 13, which abuts against the lower wall or floor of a depending overflow chamber 14 which is formed integrally with the bowl structure, and merges into an overflow passage 15 formed on the rear or non-exposed surface of the bowl. The bowl, near its upper edge, is provided with overflow holes 16 which communicate with the overflow passage 15, for the purpose of providing an outlet for surplus water and prevent flooding of the bowl.- The bushing, immediately below its mouth, isprovided, in its wall, with openings 17, which communicate with the overflow chamber, and serve to convey the water therefrom to the interior of the bushing, and thence through the trap to the drainage system. The casing, below the neck 12, on K one side, is provided with a protuberant cam chamber 18, and the lower end 19 of the casing, below the cam chamber, is in the form of a slip joint adapted to connect with the trap or drain pipe, not shown,.which connects with the drainage system for the house. The cam chamber is of vertically elongated formation, being provided with iiat side walls 20, and a curved end wall21, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. y I

The drain plughas, on its under face, a boss 22, into which is entered a rod 23, which rod is screwythreaded into a head 24:, which comprises part of a cage25 having radiating arms 26, preferably three in number, which abut against the wall of the cylindrical bushing within ywhich the cage is adapted to rise and fall. The arms connect, at their lower extremities, with a ring 27, of substantially equal diameter with the cylindrical wall of thebushing. The ring rests upon the bowl by a cam finger 28 moving within the cam chamber, which cam finger is formed to have an acting face 29 curved on the arc of a circle. The cam finger is mounted upon the squared end 30 of a rock shaft 31, which extends in transverse relation with respect to the flat side walls of the cam chamber, and the cam is so swung that when it is in its lowermost position, as indicated in Fig. 2, its curved acting face will rest against the lowermost portion of the curved wall 21 of the cam chamber, in which position it can be swung inwardly and upwardly until it occupies the position shown in Fig. 3, in which the center portion of the curved acting surface of the cam will abut against the outer portion of the curved wall 21, which abutment prevents further movement of the cam. Then the cam nger is in its uppermost position the extreme end of the linger will project outwardly into the interior of the casing 11, immediately below the ring 27 of t-he cage, and the tip of the cam finger, thus projected, will occupy a position below the main portion of the cam finger, so that it will be impossible, by a down pressure of the plug, to force the cam out of its raised position. Any pressure thus exerted on the plug will rather have the effect of driving back the cam into tighter contact with the upper wall of the cam chamber, thereby affording a lock which prevents the accidental dropping or forcing down of the plug. The curved acting surface of the cam furthermore enables the cage ring to lie smoothly and evenly upon the cam as the plug is raised and lowered.

The extreme end of the shaft 31 is provided with a bearing st-ud 32, which is ournaled within a small boss 33 on one of the side walls of the cam chamber, and immediately opposite the boss is a journal sleeve 34 which is screw threaded' on its end to receive a cap 35, which cap is intended to act as a gland for the compression of a packing ring 36 which surrounds the shaft. In order to prevent retraction of the shaft a collar 37 is provided, which collar, in combination with the journal stud 32, provides a smooth bearing for the rotation of the shaft. rIlhe cam shaft 31 is connected with a horizontal transmission shaft 38 by means of a coupling 39, and the transmission shaft 3S, in the form shown in Fig. 1, has on its end a bevel pinion 40 which meshes with a bevel pinion 41 on the end of a vertical actuating shaft 42, which shaft has on its end an operating handle 43 located above the bowl and within convenient reach of the user. The vertical actuating shaft and the horizontal transmission shaft are both ournaled within a bracket 44, which serves to hold the two pinions in mesh with one another.

In the arrangement of the mechanism shown in the drawing, the operating shaft 42 is passed through a mounting within a faucet 5G, the handle 43 being above the faucet, as shown in Fig, 1. This arrangement is a convenient one, in that the faucet handle 57 and the drain handle 43 are both in close proximity to one another, which improves the appearance of the bowl and promotes the convenience of the user. At the same time it will be understood that the invention is not limited to an arrangement of this kind, since the handle can be positioned at any suitable point, and can be used in connection with faucets which do not permit of the mounting hitherto described.

In use, when it is desired to raise the plug from the closed posit-ion shown in Fig. 3, the handle 43 is either turned or lifted, depending upon the bevel connection employed, which movement of the handle imparts rotation through the transmission shaft and the cam shaft to the cam. The rounded acting face of the cam bears against the edge of the cage ring, so that as the cam shaft is turned the cage will be raised, and with it the plug. Vhen the parts are raised, as indicated in Fig. 3, the cam will afford a lock for the plug, which prevents it from being lowered by direct pressure, or in any manner except by the proper operation of the par/ts. The cage is slidably mounted within the casing, but at the same time sufficiently fills the space to prevent wabbling or displacement of the plug when in raised position, and the interstices or openings in the cage are of sufficient size to permit the easy discharge of water without obstruction. At the same time, when it is desired, for any reason, to clean the discharge passages, the cage, plug and stem can be bodily removed and the cam turned back so as to provide no appreciable obstruction during the cleaning operation. In ordinary circumstances, the actuating mechanism will be entirely hidden by the bowl, the handle only appearing above the surface, so that the appearance of the bowl and the surrounding structure will not be impaired. In the present arrangement, the cam shaft moves through an arc of about 180 degrees when working from closed to open position, and the relative size of the meshing bevel pinions is such that a fraction of a revolution of the handle will be sufficient to open the drain. In order, however, to obviate the necessity for careful adjustment of the intermeshing gears, a complete gear wheel 41 is shown, although but a portion of such gear wheel actually intermeshes with the companion gear wheel, and, so far as actual results are concerned, the segment only of the entire wheel might be used. By employing the completed wheel, however, there is no necessity for careful adjustment, since the parts will cooperate, no matter in what position the pinions are when brought into mesh. The device as a whole is one which is simple in construction and adds to rather than detracts from the appearance of the bowl or other similar structure to which it is applied.

Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a drain passage provided with a protuberant cam chamber, a rotatable cam shaft passing through the cam chamber from side to side thereof, av cam mount-ed on the shaft and having a curved 'acting face, and adapted to be drawn back plug from being lowered under pressure, into the cam chamber to leave the drain pasand means for operating the cam, subst-ansage unobstructed, a plug adapted to close tially as described.

the passage, a slidable mounting for the CHARLES B. FOSTER. plug, adapted, When raised, to bear upon the Witnesses:

cam at a suitable point to force the cam SAMUEL W. BANNING,

back into the cam chamber and prevent the CHARLES C. STRINGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

